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The NFL (National Football League) was founded in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association. Originally founded with ten teams from four states, all of whom would participate in regional leagues in their localities; its name was changed to NFL in 1922. It is credited to be the first professional league to establish itself nationally after a few failed attempts. Currently, only two of the founding members, namely Decatur Staleys and Chicago Cardinals have remained in the association. The Green Bay Packers are the only to have remained loyal to their location.

The first official championship game of the NFL was held in 1933. During the initial years, membership remained unstable. One of the franchisees, The New York Football Giants, joined the league in 1925 and moved to Detroit in 1934 and changed to the Lions.

The Association itself went through several name changes. Its headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio. It has stuck to its current name, National Football League.

Some of the original teams representing Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago and Detroit are no more with the league. They have been replaced however with newer franchisees.

The championship awards were given rather in an unorganized manner. Some teams would play more or fewer games than others, hence awarding the championship to those who had the best win-loss record didn’t make for a good practice. A tie-breaker in 1921 decided who the winner is; it was followed by a disputed title in 1925 and an unscheduled indoor playoff game in 1932.

In the year 1933, three new teams namely, the Pirates, the Cincinnati Reds and the Eagles, were admitted to the NFL prior to the start of the season. That took the count to ten. Since then the league has expanded to more than 30 teams. For weekly action that you cannot get anywhere else, the online bookmaker industry offers odds on everything from winning the game to over/under, points per quarter, etc. However with 100s of places to look to, take a look at this bet365 review to get you started on to the journey of taking your love the NFL to new heights.

At the behest of George Preston Marshall, the league was reorganized into an Eastern and Western division. The Philadelphia Eagles, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, Boston Redskins, and the Pittsburgh Pirates constituted the Eastern division while the Chicago Bears, Portsmouth Spartans, Chicago Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, and the Cincinnati Reds made up the Western. In addition, Mr Marshall convinced the two division winners to meet in a NFL Championship Game.

The NFL originally had players of various origins – native American, Asian American and African American. However, in 1927, all Black players were moved out with no explanation. The pool of talented Native Americans began to dry up. George Marshall allegedly used pressure to keep the teams all-White but that was only one of the reasons. Internal politics, cronyism and rising intolerance towards Blacks were other reasons. During the war crisis, with much of the talent away from home fight the World War II, talented Black players were passed up in favor of players who were physically unfit.

Integration occurred later with many teams recruiting Black players, forced by the venue administration. In 1941, the corporate headquarters of NFL relocated from Columbus, Ohio to Chicago. A competitor by the name of American Football League rose in 1946. During Bert Bell’s tenure, the headquarters shifted to Philadelphia but on his death was moved back to Manhattan.